Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Peruvian counterpart on supporting families from the indigenous Kichwa community of Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK Government is aware of the challenges faced by indigenous people and their supporters in the Peruvian Amazon. We monitor the threats that they face, as well as the actions of the Peruvian Government to protect these communities. We regularly engage with indigenous national organisations to discuss human rights and climate initiatives. I [Minister Rutley] visited Peru in October and met with representatives of indigenous groups, including from the Santa Rosillo de Yanayacu community, to hear directly about the challenges, threats and opportunities they face. I also discussed the importance of protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities with my former counterpart, Mr Ignacio Higueras Hare, during the annual UK-Peru High Level Dialogue in October.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department will provide support to Haitian police to help tackle the increase in violence from criminal gangs.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti that exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. On 9 April, the Foreign Secretary announced a £5 million UK contribution to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission, the main role of which is to work in collaboration with the Haitian National Police to tackle gang-related violence.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Human Rights Watch entitled The Massalit Will Not Come Home: Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan, published on 9 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK condemns in the strongest terms reported atrocities being committed across Sudan, particularly in Darfur. Reports of ongoing attacks on innocent civilians by militias, particularly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing. These acts must stop immediately. The UK continues to pursue all diplomatic avenues to press the warring parties into a permanent ceasefire, to allow unfettered humanitarian access, to protect civilians, and to commit to a sustained and meaningful peace process. Atrocity prevention is one of the pillars of our Sudan strategy and we analyse the conflict on an ongoing and rolling basis. Our policies are under constant review and the FCDO will ensure we take the policy suggestions detailed in the report into consideration.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he plans to take steps to support the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul following recent floods in that area.
Answered by David Rutley
I [Minister Rutley] was saddened to learn of the terrible flooding that has ravaged Rio Grande do Sul. I offered my sincere condolences to all those affected by this tragic incident, including the families of those who have so sadly lost their lives. His Majesty's Ambassador to Brazil has also offered condolences to State Governor Eduardo Leite. Through the Start Fund the UK has supported an allocation of £193,000 to provide humanitarian aid in response to the flooding in Brazil. The Start Fund is a pooled fund to which the UK is a major donor.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to support people facing food insecurity due to El Niño in (a) Colombia, (b) Ecuador, (c) Peru and (d) Bolivia.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO is a significant contributor to global humanitarian pooled funds which are activated to respond to a humanitarian crisis such as those caused by El Nino. This includes the UN Crisis Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Red Cross Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) and the NGO Start Fund.The UK is providing expertise through a multi-year Government-to-Government Agreement with Peru to support the reconstruction of the country's public service facilities following severe damage caused by El Niño flooding in 2017 and supporting Peru through the Start Fund and Save the Children in its humanitarian response to flooding caused by heavy rainfall and high sea temperatures in northern Peru in March this year. Since June 2023, the Start Fund has also provided £140,000 to support NGO responses to the health, water and food security impacts of drought in Colombia. These responses targeted assistance to thousands of people across the region.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the ruling by the Appeal Court in Hong Kong on the banning of the song entitled Glory to Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We are concerned about the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, including freedom of speech, which is guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. As the then Foreign Secretary said in the foreword to the January - July 2023 Six-monthly Report, "the Hong Kong authorities have extended the application of the National Security Law beyond genuine national security concerns…to use legal routes to supress the song 'Glory to Hong Kong'". I raised the deterioration of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong with Christopher Hui, Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury on 24 April during my visit to China.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department plans to take steps with (a) NGOs and (b) charities to tackle deficiencies in water (i) quality and (ii) access in South American countries due to El Niño.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO is a significant contributor to global humanitarian pooled funds which are activated to respond to a humanitarian crisis such as those caused by El Nino. This includes the UN Crisis Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Red Cross Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) and the NGO Start Fund. Since June 2023, the Start Fund has provided £750,000 across the region to support responses to water, health and food security impacts of drought, particularly in Venezuela, Guatemala and Colombia, with these responses targeting around 25,000 people.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department plans to take to investigate the recent MoD security breach.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The recent MoD security breach with the compromise of MoD payroll information is the work of malign cyber actors who compromised a contractor-run network entirely separate from the MoD core system. A specialist security review of the contractor and its operations is under way by the MoD. We cannot rule out a state or criminal actor at this stage. Investigations are ongoing and appropriate steps will be taken.
We consider every case on its merits and will not always name who was responsible for a specific incident. Should the UK Government choose to respond publicly, it will do so at a time of our choosing when we judge it is in the best interests of the UK to do so.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Iranian counterpart on Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.
The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the transparency of the Chinese government on their handling of the covid-19 outbreak and (b) implications for his policies of the protest by Zhang Yongzhen.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We are aware of the protest made by Zhang Yongzhen. Clearly there are questions that still need to be answered about the origin and spread of COVID-19, not least so we can ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics. We are not going to rule anything out until a robust, transparent and science-led review has taken place. The UK continues to support the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its expert study of the origins of Covid-19. It is important that China and other countries cooperate fully with the researchers.